How to use mobile devices safely at work
Do you remember when the term BYOD took over the headlines and soon became a buzzword in the corporate setting? This term is an acronym for “Bring Your Own Device”, a concept created by Intel in 2009. That year, the company began to allow its employees to bring their own smartphones, tablets, and even laptops to the workplace if they wanted to.
Many companies still allow this given its numerous benefits. First, employees often own devices that are more powerful than those provided by the IT department, which obviously increases their productivity. In addition, it is much more practical to use a single mobile phone for both professional and personal purposes rather than carry around two different devices. Using your own mobile phone for work has become so common that the term BYOD has all but been forgotten.
Obviously, it is not all roses. Since this trend was initially adopted with a 100% focus on productivity, many cybersecurity concerns ended up being neglected. After all, using a device that is not supervised by the IT sector to store, access, and process your company's confidential information can create some very dangerous situations that need to be considered by those who prefer to use their own devices for work.
Balance between productivity and safety
When deciding to use the same device for your personal and professional life, it is very important that you are aware of the responsibility this decision involves. First, if your device is stolen, is your gadget properly secured with a strong authentication method, such as a biometric lock or a complex password? If it is not, the thief might, in addition to accessing personal information, be able to obtain confidential corporate data.
We also need to consider how the device is used. Because we are using our own phone, we may download applications and games of doubtful origin, outside the official stores of each operating system, which may expose the device to malware and other types of malicious code. Always try to adopt best cybersecurity practices, using protection software and thinking twice before downloading something.
The threats don't stop there: connecting to a suspicious Wi-Fi network, lending the device to third parties, connecting it to an unknown computer… All of these can endanger the confidentiality of your information and the information of the company you work for. So, be careful how you use your device.
The precautions you already know
There are no secrets here: to avoid major headaches, just follow the classic cyber hygiene tips for mobile devices. This includes being careful with the apps and games you install on your device, not accessing suspicious websites, and avoiding any kind of modifications to the operating system. Of course, it's also essential to always have a security solution installed on the device.
Finally, it is also important to evaluate the real need to load corporate data onto your smartphone. Take time to think about what information you really need to store and access on your device, discarding whatever is not crucial for your job. This way, you can reduce the amount of sensitive data compromised if something goes wrong.
